The present invention relates generally to a guide roller assembly and, more particularly, to a guide roller assembly adapted for supporting a reciprocating yarn guide rod in a textile bobbin winding machine.
In one conventional type of textile bobbin winding machine, a yarn guide is mounted to a support rod which is longitudinally reciprocated alongside a rotating bobbin for traversing delivery of a traveling yarn to the bobbin for cross-wnding thereabout. Typically, the reciprocating yarn guide rod is supported by a system of plural guide roller assemblies, each of which basically includes an outer shell rotatably supported on a fixed carrier by a ball bearing assembly or the like interposed therebetween. Guide roller assemblies of this basic type have a tendency to wind yarns and fibers thereabout and to allow yarn pieces and fibers to enter the ball bearing assembly, which impairs the ability of the guide roller assembly for free rotation and ultimately causes the guide roller assembly to fail.